22th March- Rouge Pictures

6th March - 20th March: Siem Reap, Cambodia. Mission: To do a documentary to up publicity for Prolung Khmer, an NGO founded in 2003 with the aim of conserving traditional Cambodian textiles and ceramics as well as training local community members with skills to help provide alternate and sustainable sources of income for over twenty village families. The people: Sheng, Vanessa, Greg, Yun, Yong Ling, Angeline, Joanne, Lemuel, Nana, Hadi Ashikin, Jane, Thasha, Ghazi (SL), Nik (SL), Ms Alina Heng (F), Mr Veera (F) and yours truly. The translators: Makara and Rahdi. The groups: Original-Rever De 108 and Stereo Puppets, New-De Stereo and Ugly Jeans. :) Ok. Time for the blogging. The first week there was quite havoc in terms of production. My group Rever De 108 (with Sheng as director and Vann as producer) didn't have a concept solid enough for the facis/ student leaders to accept. We couldn't really answer basic questions like how are we going to carry the message across and who's the target audience. Meetings after meetings after meetings. Daily debriefs then meetings again. When we finally decided on a good enough concept for the documentary there was a group reshuffle. This group reshuffle idea came about from the previous day where we took a break from productions for the PK documentary, went into different groups (1,2 and 3) and did an independent 3-5 mins video clip based on whatever theme they gave us. My team got "The Rooster" while the other two teams got "The Well" and "The Haunted House". Rahdi was the star for my team's video clip- he did most of the talking and shared a lot about roosters and its placing in Cambodia. We actually had a better idea for our clip but it was highly impossible because we had several rules to follow such as no panning, no tilting, no zooming and no editing so we had shoot still shots and in sequence. And not to mention, the rooster was a highly boring and uncooperative subject. -grrr Coming back to the PK documentary productions.. my new group was De Stereo- name adapted from the two original groups. Vann became the director and Angeline became the producer. I was the ast. producer and YL was the ast. director. Once again we had to brainstorm for new ideas and new concepts. Nearly argued with the team because I wasn't satisfied with the suggestions. Loopholes were abundant but somehow the team couldn't see them. Had to take a smoke with Thasha to clear my head. Went back home to bitch about it with my room mate Kim. At a meeting that night I was trying to piece all the different stories we collected together, finding out the link and etc. We're focusing on two characters- a potter and a weaver. The potter is working to fund his education, while the weaver is working to provide her son an education. At this, Joanne said something which really strike me and that was "Poverty is the problem, Education is a solution". This tag line impressed the group and Vann added on saying "And Prolung Khmer is the aid". How cool is that?! Haha, and so that became our tag line and our theme for the documentary. What I would like to say at this point is that making a documentary is really not easy. We have to source for talents, find out interesting story angles, think of unique concepts and ways to portray a message (nothing mediacorpish) and when filming to ensure that the lightings are correct, the focus is there and the sound to be clear. All these and more, even when we have a communication barrier between the subjects and ourselves. Thank you God for the translators. Ok besides production, my stay in Cambodia was really enjoyable because of the shopping trips, temple trips, massage session, dinner outings, late night gossips, tuktuks, good food, comfortable beds and the wonderful wonderful Cambodians. 1. I love our host Makara and her beautiful family and am grateful for the delicious meals and clean accommodation. 2. I love Rahdi for being Rahdi- he's such a nice guy. There was once he helped me to interview nearly every weaver at PK and then going over to help Angeline interview the potters when I'm done.. without taking a break. He also helped to transport our luggages on and off the bus, both to and from the airport. P/s: Our luggages was damn heavy- Vann's was the heaviest at 23kg lol! 3. I love the PK people. They're ultra nice and I've grown so attached to them (despite spending the first week or so only with them). On the 19th we went back and had a great farewell session. Chanti kissed and hugged me before I left. I promise to come back for her wedding to Chenna (the potter we're featuring in the film). 4. I love the Cambodians for being so friendly. They agreed to being interviewed (with our cameras, boom mics all) without asking for anything in return. And the children! You just need to hold out a camera and they will auto smile/pose for you. :) 5. I love Cambodia for being so rich in culture. Angkor Wat and the other temples are so detailed and beautiful. Highly recommended as a photo shoot location. And finally.. 6. I love Rouge Pictures. Each individual has a different story to tell and when all these different characters are placed together, you'll get a very special 1-of-a-kind group. And Rouge Pictures has 1 of the most unique combination of people I've ever seen. Where would we be without Vann and her hospital trips for her bee stung fingers? Sheng and his powerful insect killing skills? Angeline and her lame jokes? Kim and her "aunty" symptom? YL and her seriousness at work? Joanne and her love interest? Yun for her model-like behavior? Lemuel and his ahbeng swearings? Greg for his lousy accent? Ghaz for being scared of everything?! Haha, you get my point. :) Wow. Looking back, this trip has indeed been a great experience for me. And if given a chance, I would definitely do this all over again. =) Ok I'm reaching the end of the post already. To conclude, I would just like to say thank you to everyone who made such a trip possible. I had an awesome time in Cambodia. On a side note, I would also like to thank the W15H clique for planning such a wonderful chalet cum birthday celebration for me. I had loads of fun and I really appreciate everyone's effort to make my birthday so memorable (eating Cinnamon power dissolved in water -.-, playing with shampoo, flour and water, singing me happy birthday at the BBQ pit when I arrived...etc). I love you all and I can't wait to mark our first anniversary as friends. =D Ok, I'm done here. Bye! Ref abt PK: www.ewb-uk.org/projects/2007/proklungkhmer/details